Hev, that has to count as her best ever GS wins - beating a seed on a show court. Only her second ever win over a seed in a GS (Garcia [32], R128, Wimbledon, 2015).
Beat the seed and get the reward of a match against a qualifier in R64 of a GS. Just hope Heather can take advantage of the opportunity she's made for herself. Brady is dangerous.
Hoping very much (though, in truth, not entirely expectant) for Naomi to complete the clean sweep!
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Data I post, opinions I offer, 'facts' I assert, are almost certainly all stupidly wrong.
Naomi holds to 15 thanks to an unret 1st serve, an ace and a drive volley 1-0*
Daria recovers after Naomi takes the opening point, a drive volley winner and a f winner, finishing with an unret 1st serve 1-1
Naomi broken to love, twice missing easy forehands immediately after her serve, two 2nd serves punished by DG 1-2*
Gav up 40-0 gets careless, 3 ues in the next 5 points, 2 immediately after her serve, Naomi with one super combination b cc sets up f winner, then another finishing with a volley to break 2-2
Shocking drive volley error from Naomi but a brilliant b dtl winner after her serve then 2 aces as she holds to 15 3-2*
Easy love hold for Daria, Naomi 2 ues 3-3
DG hits line several times in the rally before G f winner. Naomi unret then ace, a super NB f dtl winner, another poor f immediately after her serve and an unret to finish 4-3*
Naomi careless f(s) give DG 40-15 then Daria f ue. Naomi brilliant b return winner. df brings bp and Naomi takes it with a super b cc that DG can't keep in play *5-3
Another ugly f ue from Naomi 0-15 ace. G wastes chance to pass after Naomi's weak f 30-15 DG f ue 40-15 NB drive volley to take the set 6-3
-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 17th of January 2017 02:55:14 PM
Naomi starts the 2nd set by taking aim at a b dtl just misses, then a poor 2nd serve return 30-0, easy hold for DG *0-1
Naomi looks comfortable at 30-15 then implodes with 2 poor b immediately after her serve and another stupid f moon-ball that DG drive volleys for a winner 0-2*
NB begins with a couple of good f(s) then DG punishes another f moon-ball, DG f wide to set up bp. Naomi takes aim at b cc but just wide 40-40. Unret then ace *0-3
Broady first serve goes missing yet she holds through Daria errors and an incorrect DG challenge. First ace of the set for Naomi, showing her frustration 1-3*
Love hold for DG including 3 unret 1st serves *1-4
Good hold from Naomi including an impressive f winner immediately after her serve, an ace and a super serve + volley to finish 2-4*
One of the best Broady return games ever. She won 4/5 through super play. NB b winner. NB return winner 15-30 NB b dtl winner 15-40 NB agg b return to break *3-4
DG takes the first two 2nd serve points 0-30 then four 1st serves, 2 aces, a super f winner and a volley winner after a fantastic b dtl 4-4
Daria love hold 4 first serves *4-5
Painful f ue wide from Naomi on easy put away 0-15 DG drive volley winner 0-30 another 2nd serve NB poor f cc ue net 0-40 Super Naomi f winner 15-40 Poor Broady b ue long for the set 4-6
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DG df then takes next four. Naomi slow to attack the net at 0-15 when in control *0-1
2 aces as Naomi holds to love 1-1
DG punishes yet another moonball. NB super f return winner. Daria f winner immediately after the serve. Repeat. Naomi b return winner then a poor NB b long *1-2
Two NB f(s), an ace and a v winner as Naomi holds to 15 2-2
Love hold including an ace and 2 unreturned 1st serves *2-3
Only one 1st serve yet Naomi holds to love with 2 rare DG ues 3-3
2 unret and an ace as DG holds to 15 *3-4
Naomi super f dtl winner. Up 30-0 the Broady f implodes, making 3 shocking errors in a row. Saves bp a volley winner followed by wild celebration. Then 2 aces to hold. Naomi clearly enjoys her aces 4-4
Daria holds to 15 thanks to Naomi's forehand still struggling to find the court *4-5
3 aces in a love hold for Naomi 5-5
5 first serves as Daria holds comfortably *5-6
Naomi poor b error then DG agg return 0-30. ace. unret 2nd serve. ace. Naomi has a straightforward volley to take the game but she nets it. Daria dominates then fires a f dtl winner. Naomi ends with a wayward f immediately after her serve 5-7
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Naomi played a lot of super tennis mixed in with a fair amount of shocking errors. From 6-3 4-4 Daria was solid until the end, losing just 6 points on serve, while Naomi would throw in the occasional terrible game. Given her current limitations, Naomi played about as well as she could hope for.
19 aces 0 df. First serve percentage 61% winning 71/55. 45 winners 31 ues. Saved just 2/6 bps.
Return stats not so clever but Daria's first serve percentage of 70% not ideal for Naomi. After the first set DG ues were few and far between.
-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 17th of January 2017 02:51:40 PM
That is one of the best performances from Naomi that I've seen in the last 12+ months. Still made a lot of the familiar errors (forehand immediately after her serve, moon-balls, movement) but it is going to take time to improve her technique. Shame about the volley at 40-30 in the final game because she makes that 7+/10.
-- Edited by kundalini on Tuesday 17th of January 2017 01:10:12 PM